People planning to travel to Cowes to see the Queen on Wednesday 25 July are strongly advised to use public transport due to limited parking facilities in Cowes.
A special park and ride service between Newport and Cowes will be operated by Southern Vectis, and to discourage residents from driving to Cowes, parking will be free in Isle of Wight Council car parks in Newport on the day of the visit until 1.30pm. The ‘Royal Return’ ticket is priced at £3. Buses will depart every 15 minutes between 7am and 10am from Church Litten in Newport to Cowes High School, just a short walk from Prince’s Green and The Parade. These are the places where members of the public will be able to see the Queen on the day. Buses will return to Church Litten from Cowes High School on a 15 minute frequency between 11am and 1pm. The 'Royal Return' ticket is only valid on the buses between Church Litten and the high school, so cannot be used on regular bus routes. Also, concessions or freedom passes will not be accepted on the special ‘Royal Return’ park and ride buses. Although people are strongly advised to use public transport, Northwood House trustees are kindly providing parking for several hundred cars in the grounds of the house. Priced at £5 per car, all proceeds go towards the running of the house. In East Cowes, parking restrictions along the esplanade will be lifted for the day, enabling people to park for more than the usual two hours. Volunteers from Raynet will be assisting council officers to monitor the traffic flow on the day, and live traffic updates will be relayed to residents via the council’s facebook and twitter feeds and through local media. People wishing to catch a glimpse of the Queen should head to Prince’s Green or The Parade as there will be no public access to Cowes Yacht Haven. The Queen is due to sail from Gurnard towards Cowes from 9.45am, arriving at Cowes at 10.10am. The royal party will make their way along The Parade, arriving at the RNLI station at 10.30am. The Queen will then travel to Cowes Yacht Haven by boat before departing just before lunchtime. The Parade will open to members of the public at 7.15am, capacity will be limited to around 12,000 people and once full, people will be redirected to Prince’s Green. The Parade will be closed the night before for security reasons. For further information about the visit, please see www.iwight.com For Isle of Wight Council social media updates, please see www.facebook.com/isleofwightcouncil and www.twitter.com/iwight
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